Ice Cream Dealer
by oneoffour111
Summary: In which Nico works at McDonald's, Annabeth craves ice cream, and there is in-law-related conversation.


**Title:** Ice Cream Dealer

**Word Count:** 800

**Rating:** K+

**Characters/pairings:** Nico, Annabeth, Percy/Annabeth, Rachel/Nico

**Summary:** In which Nico works at McDonald's, Annabeth craves ice cream, and there is in-law-related conversation.

**Author's Notes:** A combination of the prompts _Nico: "Would you like some fries with that?"_ and _Percy/Annabeth: cravings_ at the **pjo_fic_battle **on LJ. The actual dialogue from Nico's prompt didn't make it in, but everyone else is doing that too I think you get the picture anyway. Un-beta'd.

**Additionally:** Okay, so. I am officially grateful to the two and a half hours it takes us to drive to our cabin each way, because I have gotten so much done during those trips! This was written entirely while driving home, so. Yes. If you like it, you should be grateful to those would-be hours of boredom too. X]

SO. Moving on to fic-related notes...I've aged Nico up a few years, because otherwise it felt kind of creepy. I'm shamelessly ganking **artemisrae**'s (LJ username) brilliant idea that Nico can tell when there's a little life inside of someone, kthxbai. And I'm really, _really_ proud of this one, so R&Rs would be much appreciated.

x-x-x

Annabeth _seriously_ needed an ice cream fix.

And McDonald's served the best soft-serve within walking distance.

She bolted from her chair, so hungry that she thought she might lose her mind. She left her office in the Lower East Side, closer to running than walking, because her first baby was _insistent_, dang it.

She could practically feel the chill radiating off her ice cream cone as she took the elevator downstairs, and could almost taste its sweetness as she spotted the golden arches down the block. _Almost there._ She willed herself to stop salivating like a dog, but apparently her baby's will was stronger than hers.

She bumped into some guy as she flung open the door, but she forged on without apologizing. She spotted an opening at a cash register and hurried forward. "One vanilla ice cream cone," she ordered, figuring that would be enough for now. She could always come back if she wanted another.

"Yes, ma'am. That'll be a dollar nine," the unfazed employee replied. "One vanilla cone, di Angelo," he called behind his shoulder.

"Coming right up," a familiar voice said, but Annabeth was too focused on the vanilla swirls to care. She took the cone and immediately bit off the top, enjoying the creamy goodness.

"Annabeth?"

_Wow_, that was good. Take that, hungry baby.

"Annabeth!"

She looked up into the waiting face of Nico di Angelo. "Oh, hi. Thanks," she said. "It's good."

He wrinkled his nose. "I'm guessing you didn't come here just to congratulate me on my ice cream-making proficiency?"

Wait. "Nico!" She swallowed. "What are you doing here?"

"Umm...working?"

"Oh. But-weird. Why? And how come you never told me? And how weird is it that I ran into you here?"

"Well. I'm 19, pretty much penniless, and I could use something to do while Rachel goes to college. Not too weird, considering we both probably work close to camp on purpose." He shrugged. "And you're pregnant."

Quickly, Annabeth looked down at her flat stomach, as if it had betrayed her. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Hold on." He swirled up a cone for himself and leaned over, poking his head around the corner. "José, I'm taking my break." He disappeared then and walked out a door, joining Annabeth. "Table?" He gestured to an empty booth and Annabeth slid in across from him.

She took another bite of her ice cream cone-always bites, never licks-and looked at him. "So, how'd you know?"

"Well, if the insane and very un-Annabeth way you barged in here didn't give it away, your baby's life force did," he replied nonchalantly, licking the side of his mound of ice cream. "Your kid's healthy so far."

"Oh," Annabeth began. "How's it going with Rachel?"

"Rachel? Oh, good. She's great." Nico nodded three times, and broke into an un-Nico-ish grin. "Good," he said again, and coughed. "And...you and Percy?"

"Oh, we're doing well. He's the only one who knows about the baby as of yet-um, except you and all the other kids of Hades around, I guess-but we're going to tell his mom and Paul next weekend when we have them over for dinner. I can't wait to see Sally's face." Her own brightened.

Nico nodded. "You're lucky, you know, having those two as in-laws. Rachel's parents never hesitate to let me know about their hearty disapproval of me."

"Definitely," said Annabeth, starting on the cone part and peeling off the paper covering the bottom. She watched a heavily overweight man lumber over to the counter. "Paul, and especially Sally, have been so helpful. And of course I'm looking forward to more Percy baby stories when we break the news on Friday."

Nico laughed. "More? Even I've only heard a couple. Save the best for me, okay?"

"Will do." Annabeth took her cell phone out of her purse and flipped it open. "Hmm, it's been a while, and I have a couple missed calls. I should get back to the office. Mind if we continue this conversation another time?"

"Nah. I'd better get back to work too. I'm here almost every weekday around this time, so I can be your soft-serve dealer if you want. Sounds pretty hard-core, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Annabeth said, standing up. "Some of the cravings are pretty random-olives, paella-but ice cream is pretty common. Good to know you've got my back," she said with a laugh.

"Sure-and don't forget those baby stories." Nico put his apron on again.

Annabeth smiled. "I won't," she promised, heading out the door and waving. She smiled.

Well, that was a nice surprise, she thought as she hurried back to the office. Maybe she'd have to develop ice cream cravings more often.


End file.
